Robots slugging it out at a " football match" in RoboCup 2017 in Nagoya, Japan. Educators working with children in robotics say the bigger point is to teach computational thinking - breaking down problems into smaller parts and creating plans to solve them with prototypes, feedback and revisions.

PHOTO: AFP

Medford, Massachusetts

AMORY KAHAN, seven, wanted to know when it would be snack time. Harvey Borisy, five, complained about a scrape on his elbow. And Declan Lewis, eight, was wondering why the two-wheeled wooden robot he was programming to do the Hokey Pokey wasn't working. He sighed: "